Bruce Nelson of Bozeman moves from Zoot Technologies to being in charge of setting up new Montana administration

Bruce Nelson of Bozeman spent two years overseeing the construction of Zoot Enterprise’s http://zootweb.com headquarters at Four Corners. Now he’s in charge of building a new state government.

"That experience has helped prepare me for this task," Nelson said Thursday.

By WALT WILLIAMS Chronicle Staff Writer

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2004/11/13/news/01bruce.txt

Nelson is heading governor-elect Brian Schweitzer’s transitional team, which has two months to lay the foundation for four years of a new administration.

Schweitzer and soon-to-be Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger will be sworn in Jan. 3. But before that time the governor’s office must choose a staff, appoint 14 directors to head the various state agencies, appoint dozens of other people to state boards and panels and review agency budget requests coming before the Legislature in 2005.

It’s a big task, but Nelson isn’t a newcomer to politics. He is the former chair of the Montana Democratic Party and once worked for Democratic Congressman Pat Williams. He also is the former executive director of the Montana Farm Service Agency.

He has lived in Bozeman for 10 years but for now is working out of Helena, while his family still lives here. His wife, Nancy Kaiser, teaches in Belgrade. The youngest of his three children is a junior at Bozeman High School.

Next year will be the first time the governor’s office has switched parties since 1989, when Democratic Gov. Ted Schwinden was replaced by Republican Gov. Stan Stephens.

"We’ve had meetings with the governor’s staff since the day after the election and done everything we can to make this smooth as possible," he said.

But the transition hasn’t necessarily been easy.

Schweitzer and Gov. Judy Martz sparred over the governor-elect’s request to appoint two state employees to his transition team in a highly-publicized meeting earlier this week. (The Associated Press reported on Thursday the confrontation had been orchestrated by Schweitzer to draw public attention to Martz’s opposition to the request.)

Nelson downplayed the incident when asked about it, saying that so far the governor’s staff has been cooperative.

"In the whole big scheme of things, I have described that as a very, very small bump in the road," he said.

The team has been given state funding and office space to do its work.

Nelson quit his job as development project manager at Zoot Enterprises, which is owned by his cousin, Chris Nelson. He oversaw the construction of the company’s headquarters and its fuel cell power facility in 2001 and 2002.

"It was a tremendous experience out at Zoot," he said. "It is a great, great company, a shining example of what we in Montana can do when given the opportunity."

Reaching out to the state is what the governor’s office will attempt in the coming year. The administration will make hundreds of appointments to state boards in 2005. A transition Web site has been put up with information about the search, at http://govelect.mt.gov.

"We need good ideas from folks and we need folks from around Montana," he said.